Sydenham - iSnare Free Encyclopedia Sydenham This article is about the suburb in London, England. For other uses, see Sydenham (disambiguation) . Sydenham Sydenham shown within Greater London Population Coordinates : 51°25′31″N 0°03′16″W﻿ / ﻿51.4254°N 0.0544°W﻿ / 51.4254; -0.0544 Sydenham ( /ˈsɪdnəm/ ) is a suburban district of south-east London in the London Boroughs of Lewisham . Located in Kent until 1889, when the County of London was created, Sydenham was historically a very affluent town and the Crystal Palace from the Great Exhibition was relocated to Sydenham Hill in 1854. Bordering Forest Hill , Dulwich , Crystal Palace , Penge , Beckenham , Catford and Bellingham ; Sydenham today is a diverse area with a 2011 population of 28,378.

[1] Contents History A map showing the Sydenham ward of Lewisham Metropolitan Borough as it appeared in 1916. Originally known as Shippenham, [2] Sydenham began as a small settlement, a few cottages among the woods, whose inhabitants grazed their animals and collected wood. In the 1640s, springs of water in what is now Wells Park were discovered to have medicinal properties, attracting crowds of people to the area. Sydenham grew rapidly in the 19th century after the introduction of the Croydon Canal in 1809 which linked the Grand Surrey Canal to Croydon and a reservoir was constructed in Sydenham. However, the canal was never successful and closed in 1836 [3] resulting in it being the first canal to be abandoned by an Act of Parliament. The London & Croydon Railway purchased the canal for £40,250 and quickly converted the alignment for a railway from London Bridge to West Croydon , opening in 1839.

After the railway opened potential gas companies began to consider the Sydenham area with the Crystal Palace and District Gas Company having works at Bell Green, which continued production until 1969; a retail park now occupies most of the site. The Crystal Palace In 1851 the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park was housed in an immense glass building, called the Crystal Palace . In 1854 the building was bought by a private company, dismantled and re-erected in Sydenham Park (now called Crystal Palace Park ). Exhibitions, concerts, conferences and sporting events were held at the Crystal Palace (until it burned down in 1936), and Sydenham became a fashionable area; many new houses were built. In 1872, the Children's Hospital, Sydenham opened. It closed in 1991, its services being now part of the University Hospital Lewisham . [4] In 1860, the Walter Cobb department store at Lawrie Place, Kirkdale (now known as Cobbs Corner) opened, lasting until the 1980s.

In 1884, Upper Sydenham railway station opened on the Crystal Palace and South London Junction Railway linking Crystal Palace to London Victoria via Peckham Rye. [5] The station and the line were poorly used despite new houses being built in the area, as passengers preferred to use other stations near-by Sydenham Hill (opening in 1863), Crystal Palace (Lower Level) and Sydenham which were on more direct routes. The ill fate of the Crystal Palace in 1936 saw patronage reduced and the route finally closed in 1954. Sydenham was attacked by enemies during the Second World War . The gas works were a target, but were never damaged. The railway which ran through Upper Sydenham station was damaged, and some homes in the area were destroyed. Local area Sydenham is divided into several localities: Apartment building on Sydenham Hill, SE26 Sydenham Hill in the Boroughs of Lewisham and Southwark runs alongside Dulwich and Sydenham Woods on one of the highest points of Greater London being 112 metres above sea level. [6] From here, the City of London skyline is visible.

Sydenham Hill has an abandoned railway tunnel from the Crystal Palace and South London Junction Railway located within the Woods. Another railway tunnel (one of the longest in Britain being 1,958 metres) goes beneath on the Chatham Main Line with Sydenham Hill station at the London end serving both Sydenham Hill and the College area of Dulwich. Upper Sydenham is also located on Sydenham Hill and is a part of the Parish of St Bartholomew . It is diverse both racially and in terms of income; the central section of Kirkdale was Sydenham's original High Street. Renamed "Kirkdale" in 1936, the area now has a small range of shops including Costcutter , Tesco Express , local pubs and off-licences. Sydenham School is located on Dartmouth Road with Forest Hill Library and Forest Hill Pools alongside Thorpewood Avenue. Green Flag awarded Sydenham Wells Park , the location of the once famous Springs is one of the largest parks within the postcode.

Upper Sydenham is also the location of the Sydenham Park allotments, the Sydenham electricity sub station which had a major fire in 2008 [7] and the Sydenham Hill estate. Lower Sydenham & Bell Green is the location of Sydenham Community Library which was recently reopened by the local community after the Lewisham Council closed it. The Bell Green regeneration project is in its second phase with a new retail park which opened in 2013, on a site which was formally a gas works. The retail park is home to Currys PC World , B&Q , Toys "R" Us , Pets at Home , Sports Direct , Next (with Costa Coffee ) and McDonald's among others. Sainsbury's have had a large store on one part of the site since the 1990s as part of the Savacentre brand and new residential apartments have also been constructed. The Bridge Leisure Centre is located on Kangley Bridge Road and Mayow Park is on the border with Forest Hill .

Alongside the Hayes railway line and Lower Sydenham station, Lower Sydenham industrial estate houses the Clarkes of London coach company, City Link Beckenham and many other businesses as well as the Beckenham and Sydenham Cricket Ground. Commercial area Sydenham's commercial area begins on Kirkdale around Cobbs Corner, continuing onto Sydenham Road often known as Sydenham High Street. It houses many independent stores, including bookshops, cafes and a bakery. Chain stores include Boots , Budgens , Ladbrokes , Sainsbury's Local , Tesco Express , Lidl , Subway and Superdrug . The Post Office has a location and for banking, Barclays , Natwest , Lloyds Bank and Santander also have branches. Community Sydenham has a very active community, with several groups concerning the local area. Sydenham Town is the local website for the suburb, where residents can also voice their opinions in an on-line form. [8] The Sydenham Society is a Civil society formed in 1972 to represent the local community. It holds local events, works with organisations and authorities as well as campaigning for improvements to the area.

[9] Green Flag and Mayor of London Award winner, Sydenham Garden, was formed in 2002. It is a charity which is involved in improving the health of residents in the boroughs of Bromley and Lewisham. [10] Sydenham with Forest Hill won a bid for the national Portas Pilot competition which provided a grant to improve high streets, extra money was provided from Lewisham Council and private developers. Conservation areas Mayow Park was originally known as Sydenham Recreational Ground Sydenham has seven Conservation Areas : Cobbs Corner, Dulwich Village (covering Crescent Wood Road), [13] Halifax Street, Sydenham Hill/Kirkdale, Sydenham Park and Sydenham Thorpes. Sydenham has the highest concentration of conservation areas in the London Borough of Lewisham [14] Recreation A number of parks are within the Sydenham postcode. Mayow Park , Lewisham's oldest municipal park [15] and Sydenham Wells Park [16] are both Green Flag Awarded.

Other open spaces in Sydenham include Alexandra Recreation Ground, [17] Baxters Field, [18] Home Park [19] and Kirkdale Green. [20] Riverview Walk is a nature conservation area [21] which runs along the River Ravensbourne from Catford. Additionally, located along the borders of Sydenham, there are Crystal Palace Park , Dulwich Woods , Southend Park [22] and Sydenham Hill Woods . Sydenham Arts Sydenham Arts is a local charitable organisation, [23] promoting the arts for the local community, which provides free and ticketed cultural events at several festivals through the year. [24] [25] [26] In June 2016, former Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion , who spoke at Sydenham Arts Festival in 2011, was quoted saying "Sydenham Arts Festival is exemplary: packed with high-quality speakers from elsewhere, but also fully alive to and supportive of things growing close to home. It means that imaginable adventures can combine with imaginative confirmations - just as they should.

Long may it flourish." [27] Notable buildings and structures Drinking fountain erected to commemorate the 1897 Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria Sydenham is the home of St Bartholomew's church , (1827–1832), at the end of Lawrie Park Avenue, featured in Camille Pissarro 's painting of 1871. The building was designed by Lewis Vulliamy . Park Court Sydenham , (1936), by Frederick Gibberd , pioneering modernist development of residential flats on the estate on Lawrie Park Road adjacent to the famous Crystal Palace Park . Six Pillars, (1934–35), by Berthold Lubetkin , on Crescent Wood Road, a villa strongly in the spirit of Le Corbusier with eponymous six pillars at street level. Cobbs Corner, takes its name from a draper’s shop at 291-307 Kirkdale run by Walter Cobb. The shop grew into a large department store catering to the gentry of the area. Interesting imposing dome where you can find the date on the building.

180 and 182 Kirkdale, built in the 1850s in Gothic style, with Tudor doorcases. 168–178 Kirkdale, three pairs of Italianate houses built around 1862. Number 174 was briefly the home of the conductor August Manns. Memorial to Queen Victoria (1897), baroque-style memorial celebrating Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. Restored for Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee and designed by Alexander Hennell, a Sydenham resident and architect. Jews Walk, it is believed that a wealthy Jewish resident planted a row of trees to define the boundary of his walk from the Common. Numbers 2,4 and 6 are classical villas dating from the 1840s. Karl Marx 's daughter Eleanor lived on Jews Walk. On 9 September 2008 a blue English Heritage plaque was placed on the house to commemorate this fact. Halifax Street, beautifully preserved street with houses dating from the 1840s. Of notice are in particular the closeness of the houses, the length of the street and the size of the gardens.

The Kirkdale Building, previously the Sydenham Public Lecture Hall, was built in 1861 by Sydenham resident Henry Dawson. Education Sydenham contains two secondary schools, the private Sydenham High School and Sydenham School . Both of these schools are exclusively girls' schools. There are five are non-religious primary schools in Sydenham (Alexandra, Adamsrill, Eliot Bank, Haseltine and Kelvin Grove) and three religious schools (St. Michael's, St Philip Neri and St. Bartholomew's Church of England). Near Sydenham are secondary schools which include residents of Sydenham in their catchment area. These include Forest Hill , Harris Crystal Palace, Harris Girls Academy Bromley(Cator Park) for Girls and Sedgehill Schools. There are no colleges in Sydenham, but Sydenham and Forest Hill schools have a joint sixth form. Population According to the 2011 census, the SE26 postcode area had a population of 28,378, with 13,714 males and 14,664 females.

[1] Famous residents Bill Wyman — member of The Rolling Stones , grew up in Sydenham Tsakane Valentine Maswanganyi — Opera singer, she first came to public notice as a member of the world-famous opera band Amici Forever Lionel Logue CVO, an Australian speech therapist and stage actor who successfully treated, among others, King George VI .

He lived in a villa named Beechgrove from 1933-1940 Flora Klickmann — editor of the Girls Own Paper from 1908 to 1931 Richard Jefferies , the naturalist and author, lived at 20 Sydenham Park (a blue plaque indicates the house) Kelly Brook , the model and actress once shared a home with then boyfriend Billy Zane in Lawrie Park Road Billy Zane , the Titanic Hollywood movie star once shared a home with then girlfriend Kelly Brook in Lawrie Park Road David Bowie Bowie spent five years living in Sydenham in his early adult life Margaret Lockwood star of Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes (1938) René Lalique , according to Henri Vever, Lalique studied at Sydenham Art College between 1878-1880 Lika Razac-Ince , holds the Guinness World Record for most live mice (16) balanced on his head at one time Transport Southern and London Overground trains at Sydenham Sydenham is served by National Rail and London Buses for its public transport. Sydenham is located in Travelcard Zones 3 and 4.

Railway stations Lower Sydenham station also is served by Southeastern but with services to London Charing Cross , London Waterloo East , London Cannon Street , London Bridge, Hayes and Lewisham . Buses The area is served by routes 75 , 122, 176 , 181, 194 , 197 , 202, 227, 352, 356 , 363, 450 and N63 linking Sydenham to Central London, Lewisham , Catford , Croydon , Bromley , Shirley , Elephant & Castle , Blackheath , Forest Hill , Penge , South Norwood and Grove Park . [32] [33] [34] [35] Roads The South Circular Road passes close by in Forest Hill. High Street improvements being funded by Transport for London from September 2012 are making the increasingly busy Sydenham Road (A212) more user friendly. So far, Kirkdale to Mayow Road has been completed, with Mayow Road to Kent House Road currently, as of December 2013, being upgraded.

The Kent House Road to Bell Green section is still waiting for funding to be found. [36] Geography The River Pool at Lower Sydenham Sydenham is approximately 7 miles (11 kilometres) to the south east of Charing Cross . It is also at the centre of many of south London's major shopping districts being 3 mi (5 km) south of Lewisham, 3.2 mi (5.1 km) north west of Bromley and 3 1⁄2 mi (5.6 km) north of Croydon. Upper Sydenham and Sydenham Hill is located on the large Norwood Ridge formed of London Claygate beds deposits; Sydenham Hill is one of the highest points in London at 367 feet (112 m). Sydenham Hill Wood is a nine-hectare [37] nature reserve located west of Sydenham Hill Road, along with Dulwich and Sydenham Hill Golf course. The hill was once covered by the Great North Wood which covered all of Sydenham, Norwood, Woodside , Gipsy Hill etc. In the 19th Century it was home to the spa and health resort of Sydenham Wells .

The western parts of Sydenham, from Upper Sydenham and Forest Hill towards Crystal Palace Park is a more leafy, suburban area with some parts like the Lawrie Park and Thorpes areas being more affluent than others. Lower Sydenham at the bottom of more gentle slopes being east of Upper Sydenham, south of Forest Hill and west of Bellingham. The River Pool , a 5.1 mi (8.2 km) tributary of the River Ravensbourne straddles the east of Lower Sydenham along the Hayes railway line . Climate The nearest Met Office climate station is based in Greenwich Park : Climate data for London ( Greenwich ) Month BBC - London - History - Crystal Palace: A History Crystal Palace You are in: London > History > Crystal Palace > Crystal Palace: A History The Crystal Palace Crystal Palace: A History BBC London's Gary Holland goes back to the year 1854 to find out all about the Palace and the people behind this amazing south London site The Crystal Palace was a huge glass and iron structure originally built in 1851 for the Great Exhibition held in London's Hyde Park.

Prince Albert, head of the Society of Arts, had the idea of an exhibition to impress the world with Britain's industrial achievements. Penge Palace, Sydenham Countries including France, the United States, Russia, Turkey and Egypt all attended with exhibits falling into four main categories - Raw Materials, Machinery, Manufacturers and Fine Arts. The Palace was designed by Sir Joseph Paxton and after the Great Exhibition finished in October 1851 he had the idea of moving it to Penge Place Estate, Sydenham as a 'Winter Park and Garden under Glass'. Penge Place, now called Crystal Palace Park, was owned by Paxton's friend and railway entrepreneur Leo Schuster. August 1852 saw the rebuilding work begin and in June 1854 Crystal Palace was re-opened in its new location by Queen Victoria. The whole building was enormous - 1,848 feet long and 408 feet wide including two huge towers and many fountains with over 11,000 jets rising into the air.

Cricketer WG Grace at the Palace in 1899 The palace and the grounds became the world's first theme park offering education, entertainment, a rollercoaster, cricket matches, and even 20 F.A. Cup Finals between 1895 -1914. The site attracted 2 million visitors a year and was also home to displays, festivals, music shows and over one hundred thousand soldiers during the First World War. Part of the gardens included a prehistoric swamp complete with models of dinosaurs. They were the first prehistoric animals ever built and came only around 30 years after dinosaurs were discovered. The dinosaur park has recently re-opened after a £4m refurbishment project. However, the Palace fell into financial ruin and a series of fires spelt the end of this historic building. "This is the end of an age" Sir Winston Churchill, 1936 Crystal Palace was cursed by bad luck and financial crisis. In 1861 the Palace was damaged by strong winds and on Sunday 30th December 1866 a fire broke out destroying the North End of the building along with many natural history exhibits.

In 1892 one person died from a hot air balloon accident and eight years later another was trampled to death by an escaped elephant. Although the palace saw many successful years and millions of visitors financial problems plagued the Palace. Its sheer size meant it was impossible to maintain financially and it was declared bankrupt in 1911. A trust was set up and they soon employed Henry James Buckland as Manager of Crystal Palace. After the fire in 1936 'disaster' However, it was the night of 30th November 1936 that saw the most devastation. Henry Buckland and his daughter Crystal, named after his love of Crystal Palace, were out walking their dog and noticed a small fire at the Palace. This soon escalated and a huge fire broke out across the building. By morning most of the Palace was destroyed. There had been 88 fire engines, 438 officers, men from 4 fire brigades and 749 police officers on duty that historic night. Some of the original remains that can still be seen today are classed as Grade II* listed. They include terraces, sphinxes and the huge bust of Sir Joseph Paxton.

Other fascinating features include sets of stairs, remains of the aquarium and the base of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's south water tower. TALES FROM THE PALACES Thursday 22 September - Thursday 24 November 2005 A warm, funny and sometimes moving ten-part series filmed over a year with the conservation teams inside Britain's Historic Royal Palaces: Hampton Court, The Tower of London, Kensington Palace, The Banqueting House and Kew Palace. last updated: 09/04/2008 at 14:56 created: 27/07/2004 Crystal Palace: Joseph Paxton What happened on this day in history. DECEMBER 1st On this day in history in 1936, the Crystal Palace burned down. The Crystal Palace was an iron framed glass building, originally built in Hyde Park to house the Great Exhibition of 1851, and was moved to Bromley in 1854, where it stood until 1936. The Crystal Palace was conceived by Prince Albert , husband of Queen Victoria , to contain his grandiose scheme, The Great Exhibition.

Albert had planned to hold a great festival of every manufactured good from Britain and abroad, in order to encourage British industry. Unfortunately he could not get permission for a permanent building and therefore had to build a structure that could be dismantled after the event, and then possibly moved by a moving company. Albert gave the commission for the construction of the building to Joseph Paxton, a landscape gardener who had never built anything before, but who was adept at manufacturing greenhouses for his nursling plants. The structure that Paxton created was a giant greenhouse, assembled in the Classical style, with an intricate network of iron poles, sustaining panes of clear glass. The edifice was built in the cruciform style, similar to an ancient cathedral, with a nave measuring 1,848 feet by 408 feet, and a transept of 950 feet by 408 feet, all at a height of 108 feet. The site occupied 18 acres, with a table display space of over 8 miles. It was given the name ï¿½Crystal Palaceï¿½ by the satirical magazine Punch. The exhibition opened on 1st May 1851.

Items on display included such modern artefacts as steam pumps, automated cotton looms, dentures and artificial limbs. In the centre of the building was a pond, containing an Amazonian lily, Victoria regia, the leaves of which were sturdy enough to bear the weight of Paxtonï¿½s young daughter. The event was a considerable success and ended with a closing ceremony on 15th October 1851. The building was then dismantled, most likely transported by some kind of a moving company, and re-erected in south London, at the top of Sydenham hill, about where the National Sports Centre now stands [SE19 2BB], to become a permanent exhibition centre. One of its first attractions was a dinosaur exhibition with replicas of prehistoric creatures, of life size dimensions but sadly not anatomically accurate. The exhibitor hosted a dinner party within the bowels of an Iguanodon. The adjoining park became the venue for FA cup finals, and even before the founding of Crystal Palace FC, a team bearing the name Crystal Palace entered the competition. In the early Twentieth Century, the fortunes of the Crystal Palace declined, largely due to lack of interest in public exhibitions.

During the First World War, it was used as a naval training base, under the name of HMS Victory VI. In 1918, it became the first Imperial War Museum. In 1936, the Crystal Palace put on occasional firework exhibitions. On one fateful day, no-one is quite sure how, there was an explosion, which developed into a fire, which spread and engulfed the building. After the fire was extinguished, all that remained were two towers which were badly deformed by the conflagration. Even these minor relics had to be dismantled during the Second World War, as they were perceived as a conspicuous landmark for enemy bombers. For another iconic British building, click on the Tower! Crystal Palace rebuild plans unveiled | Daily Mail Online comments To the billionaire Chinese developer recreating it, it will be ‘like a tree from which the whole world will enjoy the shade’. Yesterday Ni Zhaoxing unveiled his £500million vision for a new Crystal Palace, which will put a missing piece of British history back in place. The vast glass structure, the original of which was home to the Great Exhibition of 1851, will house his priceless art collection plus a hotel, conference centre and ‘other commercial space’.

Scroll down for video Towering new Crystal Palace: Chinese real estate mogul Ni Zhaoxing is planning to build a new Crystal Palace structure to replace the original which was destroyed in a fire in 1936. It will be situated on a hilltop in Crystal Palace Park, south-east London, on the same spot as the original. The sport stadium is Crystal Palace athletics track Vision: An artist's impression of what the re-built Crystal Palace could look like. If all goes to plan, building work will begin in 2015 Interior: What the newbuild Crystal Palace Park will look like inside. The plans are being supported by London Mayor Boris Johnson But not everyone shares his enthusiasm. Protesters and some local councillors fear the ambitious scheme will choke one of London’s vital green spaces. Some were there at yesterday’s unveiling at the south London site to make their voices heard. Mr Ni, chairman of Shanghai-based Zhong Rong Holdings, stressed that his plan includes restoration of the park on the original Victorian design. Crystal Palace, named because of its innovative use of plate glass, was a breathtaking symbol of the British Empire and the crowning achievement of the Industrial Revolution. It stood in another part of the capital, Hyde Park, where the exhibition was held.

more videos Donald receives hysterical greeting in Trump International Hotel Vision: As well as rebuilding Crystal Palace the park will also be refurbished for the public. Pictured in this artist's impression is a new cafe. The new Crystal Palace structure can be seen in the distance above the trees Flashback: The giant Crystal Palace centre before it was destroyed in a fire in 1936. The new building will be a replica of the original and cost around £500million Vision: London Mayor Boris Johnson (centre, right), Stephen Carr, head of Bromley Council (centre, left) and Mr Ni Zhaoxing, Chairman of the ZhongRong Group (right) unveil the plans today. The new structure will be built behind where they are sat Developer: Mr Johnson shakes hands with billionaire Mr Ni Zhaoxing at the place where the proposed new Crystal Palace will be built Parkland: This is the spot where the original Crystal Palace stood until it was destroyed in a fire in 1936. It has never been rebuilt It was rebuilt on Penge Common, where it was used for further exhibitions, before being destroyed by fire in 1936. All that remains are the listed Italian-style terraces and they will be incorporated in the new scheme.

Mr Ni, 57, whose art collection stretches from ancient relics to ‘world-class oil paintings’, said he was inspired to rebuild the palace on visits to the UK while his two daughters studied here. He said the project was ‘just like falling in love, getting married and having a child’. ‘It’s long-term hard work I can pass down to the next generation,’ he said, speaking in Chinese. ‘It’s like planting a tree in Crystal Palace to grow, then I can bring the tree to others. The whole world will enjoy the shade, local residents foremost, and once it has fruit on it you will profit the most – London the city and the people of London.’ Boris Johnson announces plans for the new £500million Crystal Palace alongside Chinese billionaire Ni Zhaoxing who is bankrolling the proposed scheme Backdrop: A model of the new Crystal Palace structure inside Crystal Palace Park can be seen (left) as Boris Johnson speaks to the press at the site where the building will be constructed Impression: This mocked-up photograph shows how the Crystal Palace may look among the houses, trees and tower blocks of the south-east London skyline.

The original photograph was taken looking north from Shirley Hill, now known as Addington Hills, near Croydon Fire of 1936: The original Palace stretched from what is now the bus station to the TV mast - and the Crystal Palace Community Association chairman said such a development would not be possible today From above now: A Shanghai-based real estate firm will be putting a planning application in to the council later this year - but the news has been badly received by campaigners worried about development in the park Last days: The Crystal Palace is shown in 1936, illuminated by the light of a Brocks fireworks display shortly before it burned down Wreckage: The burnt out shell of a building which was left after the blaze in 1936. Nearly 80 years after it was destroyed, work may begin on a replacement in winter 2015 But Nick Goy, 52, a gardener who was among the protesters, said: ‘Parks are for people not for profit.We’re concerned it will be a commercial operation, take away grass and trees, and change the nature of the park. ‘When the original palace was built, it stood in the countryside. Now London is a very different place.

It has expanded and we have very few green lungs like this left.’ The scheme is backed by London Mayor Boris Johnson, who yesterday called it a ‘brilliant, original and simple vision by which south London will once again acquire a world-class cultural attraction’. The land is owned by Bromley Council, which said consultation will now take place. A planning application could be submitted by next autumn, with construction possibly starting in winter 2015. RISE AND FALL: CRYSTAL PALACE'S HISTORY GOING BACK TO 1851 1851: The Crystal Palace is erected in Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851, a showcase of products from around the world. It cost £150,000 - or £13.1m in today's money. PRINCE ALBERT'S PRIDE Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert had originally come up with the idea of an exhibition to show off Britain's industrial achievements. It was a huge triumph for Albert, who rarely enjoyed public popularity in Britain, and he used the profits made to help establish the South Kensington museums in central London.

More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the Palace's 990,000 square feet of exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in the Industrial Revolution. Designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, the Great Exhibition building was 1,851ft long, with an interior height of 128ft. Sir Joseph was knighted by Queen Victoria in recognition of his work. 1854: Crystal Palace was rebuilt in an enlarged form on Penge Common, next to Sydenham Hill, an affluent south-east London suburb full of large villas. This new site housed the Crystal Palace School of Art, Science and Literature, while the outdoor spaces hosted concerts, exhibits, and public entertainment. The move cost £1.3million - or a staggering £96.5million in today's money. 1866: A fire causes damage to the north transept. 1871: The world's first cat show, organised by Harrison Weir, was held at The Crystal Palace.

Relocation: The Crystal Palace moved to Penge Common near Sydenham Hill in south-east London in 1854 1890s: The popularity of Crystal Palace began to decline and the building was beginning to deteriorate into disrepair. 1909: Robert Baden-Powell first noticed the interest of girls in his Scouting movement while attending a Boy Scout meeting at Crystal Palace. This lead to the formation of Girl Guides and later, Girl Scouts. 1911: The Festival of Empire was held to mark the coronation of George V and Queen Mary. Following the festival, the burden of maintenance costs became too large and bankruptcy was declared. 1913: The Earl of Plymouth purchased Crystal Palace to save it from developers. It was later bought by a public subscription for the nation. 1914-1918: The building was used as a naval training establishment under the name of HMS Victory VI, or HMS Crystal Palace. 1918: Reopened as the first Imperial War Museum, but it was unpopular. 1920s: A board of trustees under Sir Henry Buckland set about restoring the building and making it profitable again.

October 1934: The Pageant of Labour, a musical celebration of the British Labour Movement, was held at Crystal Palace. Destruction: The Crystal Palace in the aftermath of the 1936 fire, witnessed by tens of thousands of people 30 November 1936: Crystal Palace destroyed by fire. It was so great that the glow from the flames could be seen across eight counties. 89 fire engines and 400 firemen fought the blaze but were unable to bring the fire under control. 100,000 people came to Sydenham Hill to watch the blaze, including Winston Churchill. Mr Churchill said: 'This is the end of an age'. 1953 to 1973: An auto racing circuit operated at the site, supported by the Greater London Council, but the noise was unpopular with nearby residents. Numerous proposals for the site have been put forward over the years, but none as yet have come to fruition. These include plans by the London Development Agency (LDA) approved in 2010 for a £67.5m redevelopment, including new homes and a regional sports centre. But LDA withdrew from the project.

2008: a private consortium announced plans to rebuilt Crystal Palace to house galleries, a snow slope, a music auditorium, leisure facilities and a hotel. 2011: Crystal Palace Football Club proposed a 40,000 capacity stadium on the site of the athletics stadium and a new athletics track north of the National Sports Centre. Crystal Palace - encyclopedia article - Citizendium This editable Main Article has an approved citable version (see its Citable Version subpage ). While we have done conscientious work, we cannot guarantee that this Main Article, or its citable version, is wholly free of mistakes. By helping to improve this editable Main Article, you will help the process of generating a new, improved citable version. Approved articles are currently in transition to the new 'Citable Versions' format. If you actually cannot edit this page, add your contributions to the draft version . [ edit intro ] "Last Promenade at the Crystal Palace" 1852. Note the tree completely enclosed by the Palace structure; preserving the trees was one of the provisos insisted upon when it was built at Hyde Park.

The Crystal Palace was a glass and iron structure built to house the Great Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in Hyde Park , London , in 1851. After the Exhibition, it was moved and expanded and rebuilt on Sydenham Hill overlooking London, where it enjoyed a second life from 1854 until a horrific fire destroyed it in 1936. The Crystal Palace is a significant structure in many ways: it was the first structure of its size assembled from prefabricated parts; its system of horizontal trusses has since become one of the most widely-used construction methods in the world; it was at the time the world's largest enclosed open-air structure; and its success inspired the building of similar structures around the world, from the New York Crystal Palace in New York City to the Kibble Palace in Glasgow . It also symbolizes technological prowess and imperial power of enormous historical and cultural significance.

In its second incarnation in Sydenham as a suburban pleasure palace it drew crowds away from the central metropolis and was also a concert hall, famous for its performances of Handel with a massed orchestra, choir, and the Palace's enormous organ; a recording of such a performance in 1888 is the earliest known recording of live music in existence. Its exterior park, with fountains, terraces, and an outdoor exhibition of life-size dinosaur sculptures, was also highly influential. It also housed, from 1933 to 1936, the experimental studios of the Baird television company, which made regular short-wave broadcasts from its South Tower. Contents Planning and construction Sir Joseph Paxton's original rough sketch of his plans for the Crystal Palace The Commissioners originally envisioned the building that would house the Great Exhibition as a substantial, permanent structure of brick and stone, and the initial proposals reflected this.

However, with the choice of Hyde Park for the exhibition's site, many were concerned about the impact of such a large, fixed structure on the park's open areas, which defenders hailed as one of the "lungs of the metropolis." Sir Joseph Paxton then informally approached one of the commissioners, sketching out a rough elevation (shown at left) of a multi-story glass structure, with cast iron uprights and supports. He claimed it could be speedily built, incorporate existing trees inside its structure, and be removed afterward, thus preserving Hyde Park as a green space. Although encouraged that it was not too late to submit his alternative plans, Paxton had just nine days to submit his final bid. So he called upon the Messrs Fox and Henderson , the only firm he knew capable of manufacturing and installing such an enormous amount of glass, and their detailed proposal cost £150,000. However, since the building materials could be taken down and re-used, the firm offered to undertake the job for only £79,800, a mere fraction of the amount contemplated under the plan for a permanent structure.

With Paxton's proposal in hand, the commissioners laid out a remarkable new set of criteria, including a much-reduced budget and a requirement that any structure built be dismantled when the Exhibition concluded. Paxton's proposal, as the commissioners well knew, was now the only one meeting the new standards, so it was speedily approved. Some criticized the choice, as Paxton had only previously built greenhouses for the gardens of nobility, none of which had been nearly as large as the proposed structure. Colonel Sibthorp , a conservative MP with a history of bees in his bonnet, took up the charge against the plan, complaining that the trees would be suffocated, the grass killed off, and helpless exhibition-goers cut to ribbons by falling glass. Sibthorp's criticisms failed to derail the commissioners, however, and the builder's speed and skill spurred popular support. In the end, when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert arrived for the grand opening of the building, the beauty, practicality, and strength of Paxton's designs were immediately evident, and the building was hailed as a new wonder of the world.

William Makepeace Thackeray , writing for Punch , dubbed the building a "Crystal Palace," and it was known by that name for the rest of its existence. The Great Exhibition The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, 1851 (photographer unknown) The preparations for the Great Exhibition were considerable. In addition to the construction itself—which involved some 900,000 square feet of glass , and the decorative color-scheme that required the labor of 500 painters—the interior of the building was enormous. With 11 miles of stalls and over 100,000 individual exhibits, assembling the interior required the constant labor of 2,000 men for three months. With exhibits ranging from the gargantuan (entire railway-engines and enormous pistons ) to the mundane (galleries filled with linen cloth, patented invalid chairs, and galvanized walking-sticks), the sheer size and variety of material was an attraction in itself. And yet, until the opening day, the public had to be content to see hundreds of "Pickford's Vans" (horse-drawn moving carts of the day) admitted daily to the sanctuary, screened from view by vast wooden hoardings.

On May 1, 1851, together with Prince Albert, Queen Victoria officially opened the Exhibition at the Palace. The massive and ornate opening ceremonies included a procession with the Royal Family, leading military officials, and the Duke of Wellington . Thirty thousand ticketed guests filled the Palace to capacity while half a million others stood outside in the park. The Queen and the Prince Consort ascended to a specially-built, velvet-draped dais in the central transept , and stood while the great organ played ' God Save the Queen .' The Prince read briefly from the Commissioners' report for the Exhibition, and the Archbishop of Canterbury offered a prayer. The emotion which attended the event is palpable in the account of the Times of London : "There was today witnessed a sight the like of which has never happened before and which in the nature of things cannot be repeated. They who were so fortunate as to see it hardly knew what most to admire, or in what form to clothe the sense of wonder and even of mystery which struggled within them.

The edifice, the treasures of art collected therein, the assemblage, and the solemnity of the occasion, all conspired to suggest something more than sense could scan, or imagination attain." Move to Sydenham Despite a number of proposals to retain the Crystal Palace at the Hyde Park site, perhaps as a "Winter Garden," the Commissioners remained firm, and Fox and Henderson were eager to reclaim the raw materials. And, despite its enormous success; there was a sense that it was time for the Palace to go; as Henry Morley wrote in Dickens's magazine Household Words : "The success of the Exhibition has been perfect. It is the grandest feature of the age in which we live. It is the property of 1851, and must be history to 1852. It must go, and we wish it to go,–its part will have been played, and it must not remain superfluous upon the stage." [1] Yet even though the materials were valuable, their primary value lay in their ability to be re-assembled. The cost of such an operation persuaded a number of people that a new, permanent site, and an expanded Palace, would be best envisioned as a private undertaking.

The Crystal Palace Company was therefore formed with Paxton as its chairman, and £500,000 in private capital was raised. A site was found in Penge , Sydenham , atop a large hill which had been part of Penge Park . In Roman times, the hill had been a site for bonfire beacons to warn Londoners of peril; now it would be a beacon of "crystal light," a radiant city on a hill accessible to Londoners in search of an escape from their grimy metropolis. Construction workers eating a meal during the building of the Sydenham Crystal Palace, 1854. Paxton's new plans called for a structure more than half again as large as the original, and nearly twice as high. The new Palace was to have five rather than three stories, and in addition to its now-enormous central transept, it required two lesser transepts, one at either end, to balance out the design. The area of glass required was now 1,650,000 square feet, such that the glass from the original palace filled less than two-thirds of the need.

Inevitably, such ambition overreached the estimated cost, and the half-million pounds was quickly exhausted. Additional shares were easy to come by, however, and assured that the result would be a success. The company raised a further £800,000 to complete the Palace, landscape its grounds, and install an enormous system of fountains and water-works (the two towers were added to provide space for the water-tanks). Construction began in 1853 and was completed in 1854; everything went smoothly, with one dramatic exception, an accident in which the scaffolding for one of the massive arches in the central transept collapsed, killing twelve men. The Palace was re-opened and re-dedicated in 1854, again with Queen Victoria performing the honors, and again with still a larger orchestra, a larger pipe organ, and the largest mass chorus ever yet assembled in Britain. Some landmarks of the old Palace, such as Osler's Crystal Fountain, remained, but whole new galleries of art -- much of it plaster casts of sculpture from around the world -- beckoned the curious.

At one end, a nearly full-size replica of the statues of Abu Simbel was erected to oversee the "Egyptian Court," while other dining and shopping areas, based on the original Palace, such as Pugin's Medieval Court, were located throughout the building. Concerts and fireworks One of Brock's incendiary set-pieces celebrating the reign of Queen Victoria in 1901 For its first two decades, the Crystal Palace was a tremendous success as a holiday destination, but only a modest financial success. The great cost of upkeep of its grounds, fountains, and interior spaces was never quite covered by ticket receipts, and as time wore on, both patrons and exhibitors were inclined to want to pay a bit less for their privileges. A dedicated railway line to the Palace proved a success, and was connected to the main building by a cloister-like underground passageway, whose vaulted ceilings survive to this day. Thursday evenings at the Palace quickly became de rigueur for Londoners, who took in the park and grounds and then settled in on the enormous terraces for an evening of Mr. Brock's fireworks displays, which featured gigantic set-pieces depicting patriotic scenes, such as St. George slaying the dragon.

Balloon ascents, and even races, were another popular fixture. The Palace suffered a fire in 1867, ironically just two days before a certain Rev. H.M. Hart was to lecture on "Fire, what causes it, and how it is extinguished," which nearly destroyed the North Transept. The Alhambra Court, the Assyrian Court, and the entire department of tropical plants were all destroyed, as were the replica figures of Abu Simbel. It required two years to rebuild that end of the Palace, but due to the cost, the transept was not rebuilt, but simply finished off at the same elevation as the rest of the building. Later years Poster for the Imperial War Museum while it was housed at Crystal Palace. As the nineteenth century wore on, the financial health of the Company grew ever weaker. Everything that attracted people to the park was expensive, but fees could never recover the entire expense. The Company survived by selling off tracts of parkland to local developers for housing estates, but by 1911 their situation was dire.

They declared bankruptcy, and the property might have been auctioned off had it not been saved at the last minute by Lord Plymouth, who purchased it in order to "save it for the people." Lord Plymouth's generosity stirred public support, and s a subscription was taken up to reimburse him for his kindness; with these funds it was then re-purchased in 1912, becoming the "property of the Nation." Unfortunately, the Nation was just then in the midst of a war, and the Palace was requisitioned as a naval barracks, dubbed "HMS Victory IV" by its denizens. For a time, it served as a temporary warehouse for the Imperial War Museum , but the poor condition of the building cried out for greater renovation. In 1920, Sir Henry Buckland began his efforts to repair and upgrade the Palace; he renovated the interior and repaired the long-dry fountains. Among his tasks was locating tenants for the largely empty structure, and in this he enjoyed at least a modest success. Final decade and destruction By the late 1920s, the Palace was at least somewhat back on its feet.

Patrick Beaver, author of a well-respected book on the Palace, describes his schoolboy visits during this time: "On afternoons during the school holidays, and always on a Thursday so as not to miss the fireworks, a schoolfriend and I used to visit the Crystal Palace, arriving early in the morning and leaving when it closed at about 10 p.m.. For the best part of the day we usually had the entire forty-four million cubic feet to ourselves . . . I remember the echo of our footsteps and voices in the great emptiness of the nave . . . the souvenir stands had gone long ago and the bars and refreshment rooms were always closed. [2] On the evening of November 30th, 1936, Sir Henry Buckland, alerted by a neighbor, ran out of his nearby home to see an ominous glow rising from the Palace's central nave. He at once summoned the local fire brigade, and sent a man up the hill to tell the members of an orchestra, who he knew were having a late rehearsal, that there was no immediate danger. On his return, the man told Sir Henry that the musicians had fled, and the concert rooms were already afire.

The Palace was doomed, and rather like Thomas Andrews aboard the Titanic , Sir Henry knew it. Nevertheless, if anything could be done, he felt he must do it. The Penge Fire Brigade were the first to arrive, and quickly realized that the fire far exceeded their resources to contain. Eventually 389 firefighters and 89 engines would be summoned, but there was little they could do other than to prevent the spread of the fire to adjoining buildings. The Crystal Palace on fire. As described by an eyewitness, the sight of the end of the Palace was quite as moving, though in an opposite fashion, as had been its opening by Queen Victoria eighty-two years previous: "Great crashes and explosions could be heard, and billowing mountains of spark-filled clouds, about twice the height of the 350-ft. towers, rolled away over South Kent, flaming with the glow of the fire . . . when we got to the Crystal Palace parade at the top of the hill, we found a seething mass of people -- cars, bicycles, and pedestrians -- and still more thousands streaming up from every hill and road.

Fire-engines trying to run out their hoses; cars and bicycles and humans rushing over the hoses -- and over and above all the blinding blaze of the C.P. alight almost from end to end." [3] The fire burned most of the night, melting the glass panels and softening the steel superstructure such that, one by one, the great supporting arches twisted and fell. By morning, nothing was left but a tangled ruin. The fire's cause was never clearly determined, though it appears a forgotten cigarette in a ladies' washroom may have ignited the flooring, and the fire spread through the space between the joists. Surveying the ruins the next morning, Sir Winston Churchill pronounced it the "end of an era." The Palace site today One of the great Sphinxes that once guarded the entrance to the Palace, January 2002. The Sphinxes have since been cleaned and partially repaired. (photo by Russell A. Potter) In the wake of the fire, most of the remaining metalwork was removed and sold for scrap, and what could not be salvaged was plowed under, filling in what had been the basement level of the palace.

The two towers were eventually demolished, in part because during World War II there was a concern that they could be used as a landmark by German bombers. The only remaining usable structure is the old foundation of the South Tower, which serves as a small museum, open only on Sundays and Bank Holidays. The terraces themselves remain, but in a partly crumbling condition, with orange plastic safety fencing restricting access to some areas. After a proposed shopping center for the site was eventually defeated by the hard work of the Crystal Palace Campaign , future plans for the site are uncertain. A proposal to re-build the Palace instead of building the Greenwich Dome to celebrate the millennium was, to the regret of some, never considered. A large radio antenna tower now dominates the hilltop site, and the portrait bust of Sir Joseph Paxton stands with its back to the weed-overgrown area where the palace once stood. The Pleasure Garden , filmed in Crystal Palace Park during 1952, however, shows the bust facing the opposite direction since it was resited in 1981 and turned to face the National Sports Centre complex.

[4] Much of the area of the original palace grounds remains as parkland, administered by the London Borough of Bromley , though additional slivers of land have been sold off over the years. The dinosaurs, long in a very dilapidated state, were restored to like-new condition in 2001-2002 with the help of National Lottery funds. The original hedgerow Maze still stands atop its mound, one of the few remaining features of the park's early landscaping. To the east of the Palace site is an area set aside for sport. There is a long history of football at the site. In 1861, the original team comprised of players that were groundkeepers for the Great Exhibition and nicknamed the "Glaziers," due to the immense amount of glass once used in the Palace. The team was one of the eleven founding members of the Football Association and reached the semi-final stage of the first FA Cup competition. From 1895 to 1914, the FA Cup finals were held at the Crystal Palace as well as being a venue for the England national team. The first football club was succeeded by a second team of the same name in 1905.

From 1905 to 1915, the football stadium was the home to the Crystal Palace Football Club until they were relocated due to the Admiralty requisitioning the Crystal Palace; they eventually settled at nearby Selhurst Park in 1924. It was also a venue for motorcycle and car racing and is currently the home for the National Sports Centre, built on the site of the earlier football stadium. The sports center is currently undergoing renovations, including the removal of its oversize turnstile gates, which had become an eyesore. Cultural significance Even immediately after its destruction, the cultural significance of the Palace was evident. Sir David Low , the eminent British cartoonist, remarked on the great public displays of affection for the Palace in the week after its destruction; the outpouring had been so impressive, he quipped, that "plans are underway to burn down the Albert Memorial." The Palace has since been hailed both as a symbol of the imperial glory of the British Empire and a sign of its inexorable decline.

In his book, All That Is Solid Melts into Air: The Experience of Modernity, Marshall Berman takes the burning of the Palace in 1936 as a landmark of modernity and a harbinger of postmodernity to come. References 1000+ images about 1854-1936 London, Crystal Palace at Sydenham on Pinterest | London location, Search and The crystals Forward Crystal Palace Railway Station, Norwood, London.(Photo Alsop.c.1908) This station opened in 1865 and closed in 1954. It was designed for visitors to the Crystal Palace and the Great Exhibition. The station could cope with 7-8000 passengers an hour. The arches housed a ticket office, a cafe and waiting room. See More 1000+ images about England - Crystal Palace, London on Pinterest | London location, Construction and The crystals Forward 1911: Interior of the Crystal Palace with replica Ancient Egyptian statues, wall paintings and sarcophagi.

Built to house the 'Great Exhibition of the Works of the Industry of all Nations', conceived by Prince Albert (1819-1861) and held at Hyde Park, London, 1851. The 1st large-scale prefabricated ferrovitreous (iron & glass) structure, designed by landscape designer Joseph Paxton (1801-1865). It was re-erected at Sydenham, South East London in 1854. It burned down on 30 November 1936 See More

Question: Originally built on another site in 1850-51, which building burned down at Sydenham Hill in 1936?
Answer: CRYSTAL PALACE